Imperial Palaces

Hello,

I want to visit at least one part of the Imperial Palaces either in Kyoto or Tokyo. Has anyone visited any of these palaces or gardens (Imperial palace East Garden, Shugakuin Imperial Villa etc.)? Any recommendations? I've heard that some of the areas aren't worth the time.

Thanks!

The Tokyo Imperial Palace is not worth the time. And if you visit just one, it should not be Sento Palace. The other three, however (Kyoto Imperial Palace, Katsura Rikyu and Shugakuin Rikyu) are all recommended.

japan-guide.com users give the following ratings:
Kyoto Imperial Palace: 83/100
Katsura Rikyu: 86/100
Shugakuin Rikyu: 90/100

As for the Imperial palace East Garden, it is the only one that does not require advance reservations. It can be pretty enjoyable, but you cannot see a lot of imperial buildings. It is more like a public park with some ruins of the former Edo Castle.

Take the free English guide tour of Kyoto Gosho Imperial Palace.
Reserve here or if full, go early and sign up:
http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/order/index_EN.html

Thanks to both of you for the great advice.

Shugakuin seems to be full for the next three months. Is that atypical?

Shugakuin seems to be full for the next three months. Is that atypical?

It is very typical that online reservation slots are fully booked. That does not mean, however, that the tours are fully booked, as only a limited number of slots are allocated to online reservations. It is usually possible for a foreign tourist to join a tour of Shugakuin on the next day or even same day when visiting the Imperial Agency office in Kyoto Imperial Park.

As said, it's possible to book a tour in the morning when you are in Kyoto. A few things to keep in mind, it's not possible to go inside one of these palaces or villas, when you gonna book a tour, you must bring your passport (not a copy!), only a few tours are (also) in english, it's a Japanese style tour (very quickly, not much time to make that award winning photo,lol), most of time big groups, which makes it even more difficult to make that photo. BUT, it's very interesting, ver beautiful and a real must see. Personally, I like the villas more than the palaces. If you wanna have a impression of the inside of such palace, I can recommend a visit to Nijo palace,Kyoto (you can go inside at this one) or to get an impression of the inside of a villa, i can recommend a visit to Ninnaji,Kyoto